One more Milestone Achieved - Kollimalai saved me

I think this is personal, nevertheless something which every new agriculture aspirant should know.

My wife has always been opposing me doing farm activities. She knows she cannot stop me, but she could not tolerate either.  We have come to some sort of agreement over a period of time.  Ideally she wants me to do nothing new. On the contrary I want to do everyday something new.   Condition is that I must inform her before doing anything. But I DO it and confess later when confronted,  for she wouldn't let me do anything in the first place. But life is dynamic. everyday you have some development coming and it will not wait for opportune mood.  You take spot decisions and take the ire of it.   

Often she used to vouch that she will never visit my farm, ever. In such days, i cannot say what is happening in the farm and what i did that day.  As per Murphy's law "whatever can happen will happen" and will happen only on that day.  I put boring for example when we were at the peak of our fight. Obviously I told her a few days later that I did a boring and it cost some X money.  Hell broke loose again.   Now it is one of her permanent arsenal.

However by herself she watches more agri programs than me, fondles balcony garden, searches herbs and purchases millets after combing the entire market.  She gives useful tips to others too. She keeps talking about healthy food and hates commercial companies exploiting the innocent (food adulteration etc).  She would be more than happy to settle down in a village, but after "settling the children" which will happen many years from now. I cannot buy that (idea). There must be a middle path which we are trying to find.

I know things will change to my favor one day. and it did yesterday.

This is what she herself told me when I returned home in the evening.  There was a program about "Kollimalai" (A herbal mountain in TN) which she was watching along with children in the television. Usually she will give a running commentary  invoking them to appreciate nature.  She seems to have also told my son (12 years) that we must visit kollimalai, stay there for few days and explore around the forest collecting herbs and watching birds on our next vacation trip.

My son seems to have held her with both arms, looked into her eyes straight and asked this question.  "Mummy why are you talking about everything else except inviting us to visit father's farm".  My son likes insects and animals and used to ask many questions. He likes baby cows especially.

I think my family will work on the farm this summer for atleast a week or two.  One more milestone achieved.  I need to create a work plan for not only my family, but anyone who wish to come.

****

Week Ahead......

The new shade must look like this.

The week ahead is going to be more or less a routine. Subbu is travelling after few days on his personal trip.  This week,  we have reached a temperory zero sum game.

Purposefully I donot want to take any new initiative, risking the water stock. The windmill is running smoothly. Approximately 25 x 10 x 5 feet cement tank is getting filled in just 1 week. That means 35000 liters of water.  Which 35 times the windpump is filling the 1000 liter water tank and the overflow allowed to go into basetank.

Windmill is working very well. This water is enough to water all the plants (Banana, Sweet Potato, fence, few vegetables, some trees and coconut trees) that so far we have laid.  Or I guess we must have surplus.....

However I feel we also need to take some 'risk'.  Now that we are settled with wind pump and we also have a small portable kerosene engine for emergency pumping, we must take some more risk.  I pushed Subbu to initiate sowing of one paddy variety atleast.  We have stock of Kuthiraivali and Ponni.  We need to sow atleast a handful of grains.  It will be kuthiraivali as I guess it will withstand stress.

Oflate Subbu seems to have gone into a comfort zone. Just like corporate employees while away in work for few months in-between appraisals..... So I had to give him some challenge and boost. He agreed in principle that we must try something new. We want to try some paddy . It will be either direct sowing or propagation through sprouting. This will be decided by Kandan, the farmer. I asked him to maintain adquate space between each of the paddy plants as in the SRI method. That work may commence in few days.

Meanwhile today the broken shelter was removed with the help of hired helpers. The old sticks and the brittle coconut dried leaf (Olai) was saved for mulching. That place where the shed stood is looking so barren now that Subbu could not tolerate the sight of seeing that. He had ventured to Valliyoor town from where he called me to say the shops are closed due to Independence Day. He had gone to purchase fresh coconut dried Leafs. He returned purchasing a rubber hose pipe instead.

Anyway late evening, I spoke to him and added my thoughts after having consulted my spouse earlier.  Initially we had planned to create a different design. But as it turns out we will stick to basic design for following reasons

a) A round umbrella shaped roof cannot be done as casurina sticks cannot be bent. Bamboo can, but we donot want to buy bamboo as it will become a "project" then.
b) A small sqare roofing will look like a funeral shed. So I wanted the appearance not to mimic anything like that even remotely.
c) Subbu suggested we will repeat the same high raised rectangle and we accepted.

The  following will be value additions on the Shade Roof.

a). 7 feet stone pillars (6 Nos each costing Rs. 265/-) instead of sticks.
b) Very tall sticks on either side (Sticks are costly - Rs. 500/- per stick).
c) Same knitted coconut leaf (Olai). But this time more of them (60 Nos each costing Rs. 25/-) to create a dense roofing. Then trimming the edges
d) Raised floor. Using Mud. Later we will put cuddapah stone on that.
f) I told let us fix a wash basin and mirror in one ofthe pillars.
g) A bamboo screen to be in place from where generally wind blows heavily. This screen can be wrapped with "olai pai" or green shadenet when required.
h) Bricks lined in outer perimeter to add asthetic look. Post that can be planted some ornamental plants to wade off the small animals.
g) A wooden bench to be kept for sitting and resting. This can be removed at will so that place can be used for sorting vegetables.

******

Feedback on Training and More Feedback

Feedback on Training:  

The team of two had attended the first day of training.  It was good they said, but all the steps mentioned were already being done by us. There were 10+ farmers who are practicing regular chemical based farming. Perhaps they would have benefited a lot. The lecture was about using natural additives to get the costs down and reduce chemicals. Using Kolinji for example. We are already doing that.  In my earlier conversation with the trainer I had mentioned that they can use our farm for training next time. He was happy and assured he will visit later.

That means we are going in right direction.  Subbu and Kandan introduced themselves, made friends,  spent time there and returned back. Though there was a fee mentioned, they had not paid anything.      Subbu was running fever and Kalakkad climate had made it worse.  Without Subbu, Kandan will not venture alone. He felt watering the plants back home is of more priority and returned.

The visit was however fruitful. The Vanagam team had promised that they will be able to help sell the produce from our farm to customers through their network.   That is very good news and a big relief.  

Feedback from a visitor:

Mr. Dhanaraj, a BSNL retired employee is a farmer now in Coimbatore. He has a farm land near Sivagangai and wanted to know about WindPump.  He had applied for electricity, but has not got connection yet. He is unlikely to get in near future.  Like any other new farmer even after spending money, bribe and waiting the connection will seldom come.  Therefore he decided to try wind power.  

Hearing through another young farmer Vinod, he ventured to travel to the farm from Coimbatore.  They landed by train to Nanguneri today morning and came to the farm by auto. He spoke to me over phone and appreciated all the efforts. He predicted that the farm will become a busy centre in 2 to 3 years and was highly satisfied with sustained practices being followed in organic farming.  I think they spent about 2 hours or more with Subbu and team.  I apologized to him for not having a proper chair to sit in the farm.  However there are parapet walls where I guess they would have rested.  Two learnings;
a) Need to expedite the garden bench project and a shade
b) Expedite simple fence around the rain water tank and clean the space to look better. 

Both these feedbacks made my day.

Shade Net has arrived

What appears to be trivial and insignificant will actually be a big project on the field.  purchase of Agriculture shadenet for example worth Rs. 3000/-.  I ordered for 50 meters of shadenet cloth with a Coimbatore dealer through online transfer. Gave the delivery address and phone number of Subbu.  on 13th. Finally the material has reached today with delay of 10 days.

Root cause for delay is that the dealer had not written Subbu's contact number on the package.

Subbu with sac of shadenet cloth on bike from Nanguneri to farm

Already there was a delay in delivery due to Pongal festival holidays.   Booked thorugh Kovai-Nellai transport which is a very economical carrier the material got changed hands at Nellai with KLS transport ( a simple lorry shuttling between Tirunelveli to Nagarcoil).  The KLS guy did not know whom to contact because there was no contact number.  Till he contacts, the material will remain in Lorry as there is no holding Godown for them.  very simple system. If you understand you get prompt service. Small shops and business use this effectively.

Only on my followup on the entire chain of links through phone did the material got identified. But after it was done, it was cake walk.  There was a human touch. Lorry driver called Subbu today morning at 8 AM promptly and delivered the material. Subbu as usual brought that on his bike. I dono't know how.

**

Attending Training on Natural Farming - the Nammalwar Way

As a last minute development, came to know that there is a training to be conducted very near to our farm - in picturesque Kalakkad town. I got this information through facebook friend Karuppa Samy. I immediately contacted the trainers and enrolled Subbu and Kandan for the training. Next two days they will attend this training.

Esakki Natarajan (99551726956) one of the Vanagam Team member spoke for long time. He assured training on different aspects of Natural farming. I invited his team to visit our farm and conduct classes next time. He was affirmative.

Very inspiring team. Vanagam is the model farm which Late Nammalwar created (Nammalvar Ecological Foundation for Farm Research and Global Food Security., surumanpatti, Major District Road 648, D.Edayapatti West, Tamil Nadu 621311)

Shade Roof retirement and plan ahead

File Photo: Shade Roof just after windpump installation

We had a simple chat and planned the week ahead. Subbu is suffering from cold and fever. He said he wanted to avoid "injection" which will cure instantly. He chose to drink potion prepared from herbs. That was a good decision considering the fact that he has easy access to Herbs.

Shade Roof

 One of the legs of the shade roof  has got broken and the whole shade roof has sat down. This was built with casurina poles and coconut tree leafs.  Served its purpose for 3 long years in harsh climate.

File Photo: Workers resting and chatting.
Climate was very very hot outside

This is the shade under which our team rested all the while. Subbu has stayed overnight many days. Entire farm development happened in front of this.  This was also the place we used to invite our visitors to take some rest. Just sit flat on the ground and serve them some coconut juice.

Wrought Iron Park Bench - To be procured

It is high time that we completly remove it and reclaim the space.  I told Subbu to plan for a smaller roof, again with good quality leaf roof.  Meanwhile I promised I will source artistic wrought Iron Park benches and send it over there.  It costs around Rs. 5500/- per bench plus courier charges.  Since this is non-revenue expenditure I am just holding it back. Opposition from spouse is also another reason. looking for a good time to open the topic.

With two benches and a roof, we can manage to create homely atmosphere once again.

Meanwhile the leafs from this old shade roof has degraded. So it cannot be re-used. They will be used as mulching sheets eventually.  I also asked subbu to check if this can be used to shade the newly constructed compost tank. Earthworms may require shade.

***

Happy Pongal in Farm

"A Happy Pongal" was celebrated in Radhamurali Farms.  It was a complete unplanned Surprise.

It started yesterday when I called Subbu to greet him on Pongal (14-Jan).  He mentioned that their family celebrated the Pongal in traditional manner at his house.  He is living with his father and joint family.  

Pongal is a Tamil Harvest Festival falling exactly on Jan, 14th every year.   It is dedicated to Sun God and nature in general.  First day is Boghi when they burn old things. Second day they cook pongal (Ghee, rice, jaggery) and third day is for Cows.  A New Mudpot will be decorated and kept outside each house amidst colourful rangoli,  flowers and sugarcane. Entire family will workship and thank the Sun, the cows and all agriculture implements.

While talking I mentioned him that next year we will celebrate togather in the farm. I was apologetic.  I have not had a proper celebration so far in the farm. We did not even have a proper inaugural function. This was in my mind always.  However I did not want to do until the farm comes to a shape.  I always wanted to show a proper farm when the first VIPs come for any function.  I also wanted to do a Cow Puja when the first cow comes.

Author's depiction of Pongal Celebration at Radhamurali Farms on 15-Jan-2015

He said that the ladies were asking if we can celebrate Pongal in the farm as there is a room.
I said "excellent !.    Please go ahead and celebrate tomorrow. Do spend what you want.  Please give Rs. 200/- each as Pongal bonus."  He immediately made a small plan of inviting his family and other families.

Today at 1.30 pm he called to say that they have celebrated Pongal. There were 10 children around and lot of adults. I asked how about lunch for them. They had actually made "Sugar Pongal" and therefore said we have enough food. I am relieved.

Good year Ahead !

Simple Shadenet for Seed Starting

The rains have stopped.  The mud has become solid. There is dryness already in the local.  Seeds when applied directly on soil is not germinating. So far twice we have failed in germinating the Navadanya seeds.  When applied over soil, the sprouts are coming and dying within few days. Even if water is sprinkled.

Vegetable Samples

Vegetable plots where experimental seeds are put has sprouted with small plants here and there. But it is not clear, how many have failed. I cannot blame anyone, for we are not following the proper procedure.

The proper process would be to grow the seeds in a seed tray or poly bag under shade and then transplanting them.  The tender roots will form in controlled soil and later along with mother soil, it should be planted on raised beds.   I have been always thinking of creating a green house for this. But this was one of the early dreams that never got its relevance or importance. Now it is.

I decided to make a simple 20 feet by say 30 feet green shade net using casurina sticks as frame. That will be cheap. Only the roof and one or two sides will be covered with fabric which will cut down the sunlight by 60%. Not all sides to be covered.  If we cover all sides it will become very hot inside. We will cover only where direct sunlight comes or if hot air is blowing.

I need to buy the green fabric.  I contacted few vendors through the internet and finalised one in coimbatore, called Jain Wire netting Co.. It costs Rs. 2100/- for a bundle of 3 x 50 meters  (or 10 feet x 160 feet) agriculture shade net cloth. I think it is working out approx Rs. 1/- per square feet.   This includes transport from coimbatore to the farm in Tirunelveli. I Placed the order online and asked the vendor to deliver. Hopefully the shipping booking will happen today and the material should reach in 2 days.


Subbu has next assignment of building this small shadenet.  This will serve multi purpose, mainly to grow vegetable seeds before transplantation. As always Subbu is supporting this idea.

Subbu and Multitasking

I have been chasing Subbu and Paramu to do many things.  My urban corporate training has told me that multi-tasking is more efficient. Check mail while in meeting to the irony of speaker. check, SMS, Outlook and facebook in round robin fashion till you realise how stupid you are.

Write reply to mails and before pressing the send button attend to another mail which pops up, reply a chat then simultaneously and attend a phone and break for a coffee.  By the time you return to desk, the mail would have parked itself in draft folder never to be noticed.  Brooding over what to do next, we do nothing ever.

Subbu and Me

That does'nt work with Subbu. The more you tell, the less it will be done. One at a time. Complete execution.  It is easy to say that 'Subbu, I want the tank to be built, order some bricks, I have sent some money. Simultaneously when that work is going ON, think about the fence for the pond...." and so on.

When such conversation happens, Subbu will allow me to speak without uttering a word with regular appreciation. He knows when I am at my "High" I cannot be interrupted.  After all my lecture he will clamp me to the ground with some vague question or a current issue. That is his technique. Finally while summarizing, I will limit myself automatically to only one task.

After that he will be on his own. Complete empowerment granted.

Translating that into action, Subbu would be first checking from whom he can buy bricks. In village you have to go by one trustworthy supplier even if he is going to be absent for fifteen days, rather than burn your finger with unknown devil. Adventure will cost lot.

Then comes placing order on a good day, transporting the bricks by arranging a known vehicle, arrange manpower to download, purchase biryani (lunch) for workers and call it a day. Next day arrange for measuring tape, string,  cement, mixing tray, water, helper and so on..and keep chasing the mason.. Finally 5 days later and half way through they will ask fundamental doubt by calling me. "Sir, should I have to cement the floor?"

So out of long list of pending things, one work is so far accomplished in the past 10 days. That is building of compost tank 10 feet x 15 feet divided into 2 chambers. Bottom will be left as mud floor for water to seep in. Good Job.  Neat and clean.

My insistence on an emergency fencing around the pond is still pending for two months now. Money that is being sent to purchase sticks are being used for something immediate that Subbu thinks is more important.

Great fun.

Farm Update in Visuals - Jan, 2015

Bricks for Compost tank construction

Tapiaco Harvest. Very Juicy. 5 KG from one plant

Backup Water pumping using Kerosene engine.
This engine is portable and very handy to move water here and there

Banana Patch 

Sweet Potato. The weeds removed by hand. waiting for watering

Progress on 2nd Batch Bananas

Fence has grown. Next year we need not water them.
However Casurina is still shy and needs watering.
Wrong decision to have chosen this.

The fish tank. Subbu is worried it is reduced by 2 feet of water.
You can see the water mark. Rains have stopped.  Monsoon is over

Some Onions for fun

Bricks Van has got stuck in Mud. Tracktor come for rescue

The storage tank. This is reserve water to be emptied to Mud tank.
Fresh water from windpump will fall into this.  Shown in the picture is moss growth on water. This has been cleaned.

Compost Tank Construction started

This is for the construction of Compost Tank east of the gate for an easy access.  (I wonder the visitors should not be greeted with composting smell - hope the best).    The bricks are to be laid with 1 inch gap between them for proper aeration.

The tank will be having two compartments so that one will be filled with vegetable waste and allowed to compost. While the other will be slowly filling in. once the first one is turned into compost, the it will be emptied and process reversed. That's the idea.  It may also happen that if there are earth worms, they can travel back and forth.

A total of 250 cement bricks at the cost of Rs. 18/- each has been purchased.  Add transport etc it comes to around Rs. 5500/-. Cool. I guess by the time project ends it will be 10,000/- including mason and wages.

"In place of backed mud bricks,
this is coming out cheaper", said Subbu. The normal bricks cost Rs. 5/- each and around 800 will be required.  Therefore compared to that, the cement bricks which are 3 times the size of normal bricks is a better choice.  Nature lovers may however prefer normal bricks. But using flyash bricks is more eco-friendly than normal bricks which require firewood to make.

Logic is great. Anyway decision taken and implemented.

But calculations show there is  not much difference in cost, but otherwise.  
Cement Bricks = 16" x 8" x 4  = 512 cubic inches
Normal Bricks = 9" x 4.5" x 3  = 122 cubic inches

Therefore 1 cement brick = 4 normal brick by volume.
Therefore if 250 bricks are costing Rs. 4500/-, then equivalent 1000 should cost RS. 5000/- by same volume.

Not much difference. But there is definitely difference in weight and cost of handling etc.  The normal bricks have to be brought in two/three vehicles. That will add another 1500 cost.

Jasmine and Banyan in Place, Subbu and women empowerment

Banyan Tree in place near the shed.

Subbu is proactive.  Before I opened discussion on pending check list, he has already completed few tasks silently.  A total of 30 Jasmine flower saplings have been planted by him.  This will bring the total to over 80 odd plants.

In addition one banyan tree to complete the eco-system is also planted near the resting hut.  That place is bang opposite to the main gate. It will also be a remembrance of the resting hut which served through these years from Hot and cold whether.  This spot is not so fertile.

Subbu appreciating Jasmine

We discussed about the mud quality for some time.  In general my farm has soil which will solidify like a rock if left without water for few days.  It is clay+sand+something.  Now the task is to make the soil more porous.  That can be done only by adding more organic matter. That means more cowdung, panjagavya, and kolingi plants.  The soil around each tree plants is being loosened as often.  Before planting coconut, the JCB was used to dig large pits of 4 to 5 feet. That is now giving dividends. The coconut is looking healthy and one fresh leaf is appearing it seems.

The two former women employees are still coming to farm on part time. Though not permanent workers, I have asked Subbu to engage them as much as possible to provide employment.  They have just completed three days of de-weeding work in the sweet potato portion. Now they will work near Banana trees and then will assist Paramu to build the fertiliser tank.

Poor Subbu in the hands of Urban Elite women

"Sir the banana and casurina are so thick one cannot go inside. Besides there are thick grass. Snake could be there. I am not sending ladies there he said"  I said good. Right decision

Then he went on "Ladies should not go near flowering banana, it will bring disease" !?.  Subbu should be exposed to upperclass women empowerment comittee I thought.  He will be torn into pieces. For now his theory should be accepted for validation.

For cowdung, one women (Rani) is bringing cowdung and cowurine daily. She is paid Rs. 400/- in a month. It will be used as fish feed and for preparing panjagavya. I asked one more drum to be purchased to make additional mixture.  I am restless to make more fertiliser as I feel this rate is not enough.  The Navadhanya experiment has failed twice.  Once the soken nava dhanya is spread all over, within 3 days they dry up instead of sprouting. This is because of the prevalent dry weather. We cannot afford to sprinkle water daily.

Meanwhile Subbu is using the small cement tank near the borewell for mixing Jeevamruthum already.  This tank was used as main water source when there was manual pump before windmill came.  I told him, we can put some tortoise in it.

****

Farm Update 01-Jan-2015

Farm Update 01-Jan-2015

Sir, 4 buckets of cowdung were emptied into the fish pond.  The water is looking greenish, said Subbu. I wonder how the fish will breath. While cowdung is a healthy food for them, in an already muddy water, there wont be space for them to see through.

Did you see the fish ? Sure they have not died because dead fish will float. Nothing of that sort. So they must be healthy. Subbu laughed. He likes mystry.

Some special visitors are coming to farm to see the windpump in operation. He is Vinod, a farmer from Tanjore and his friend who have heared about this in the Nammalwar first year annivarsary service in Vanagam. He had called me and took details.

There had been some more visitors from my relatives last week. My sisters and their children. The children of them were interested in identifying the trees that are planted all over the place near the fence.  Even I cannot identify them, but they are of around 50+ different genetic varities.  We had not kept any documentation after purchasing from nursary. All saplings were looking alike.  Now since these are grown upto 5 to 6 feet each, they have developed their own identify.  People can identify Guava, Mango, Jackfruit etc. But not any further... Need some expert to identify and label them - an activity reserved for future.

Just yesterday the windpump was down as there was a bolt that had to be replaced. Earlier, due to turning of the rotor to adjust to wind direction, a bolt had become loose and fallen. Subbu & team had lost their Ellen Key screw driver. He had to purchase from Tirunelveli and put it back. For this it was required to "hold the propellers from rotating and tie it with ropes" by 4 strong men.  It is a ritual they have learned of late everytime there is some work in the pump. Now the pump is back to normal.

With well oiled and maintained pump, even without any wind, we are getting atleast 2000 liters of water.

The 50 odd Bananas are still maturing. I am told only when the fruit is formed, can we call the agents and start estimating the sale price etc. We have some time to go. Now is the flowering stage.

Activities ahead.
------------------

1.  Now that there is slushy mud, it is ripe for sowing rice. We already have mappillai samba and ponni rice seeds. Subbu is planning to sow them this week.

2.  Once again we discussed and confirmed the location of new bio-digester tank to be built. The place is to be adjascent to the gate to allow easy passage of dumping vehicles. Also to utilise the infertile soil.   Subbu quoted Paramu of saying that let us build it with cement hollow bricks instead of normal bricks which will work out cheaper. Considering environment and cost, I said OK to go ahead with cement hollow bricks with gaps.

3. Asked Subbu to notice the vegetable waste dumping in markets of Valliyoor, Tirunelveli markets. He said they waste is being dumped into a nearby pond. That is good news. So there is no proper waste management. We can be recipient of that waste atleast a truck load. Asked him to take some notes of who are taking them away now.

4. There is no rain. No sunshine either. There is plenty of water.

5. Subbu was enthu in asking my permission to plant more Jasmine flower plants.  Even i felt the same. The Jasmine flowers are always above 600/- per Kg and goes upto 1000/- I have been noticing their prices every day and has never come down below 800/- per kg in the past few months.  We earlier planted 60 plants of which 10 have gone waste. Another 10 is not growing. Balance 40 are already growing and even flowering in small quantity. But as per advise of others, these are nipped in their buds so that it grows more.  Tomorrow Subbut to purchase 30 more plants.

6. We need to plant atleast one Banyan tree. The place is identified. That banyan sapling will also be purchased. Meanwhile in Pune, I have isolated banyan seeds (of the size of half mustard) from some fruting trees. I need to test for germination and send it across. They are plenty and we will make seed balls to be distributed to neighborhood.

7. Recently I sent some small (country cherry) tomato seeds to many of my facebook farmer friends interested in natural farming. I collected them from wild plants that I chanced upon during our routine loitering.  Myself and my friend would venture here and there around like this.  The tomatos were squeezed, their seeds saved and sun dried.  Put seeds in small plastic cover, Rs. 5/- samped cover and post by ordinary post. That system works well. It has reached almost all of the 40 people that I posted. Soon they will grow cherry tomatoes.

***